PROGRAMME 18/2005 E 47

Sachiko Imaizumi Kodaira Where does educational TV go?

45 years of educational television in Japan

To illustrate the development of a variety of TV programmes, includ- broadcast hours were extended and educational programmes in Japan, ing programmes for pre- and primary programmes diversified, including NHK is taken as an example, school-aged children as well as edu- cultural and educational programmes tracing the evolution from the tra- cational programmes for schools. for schools, pre-school children, and ditional range of programmes for With the initiation of commercial sta- lifelong education. ETV began broad- schools towards a digital curricu- tions in April 1953, television view- casting around the clock in the year lum. This curriculum now offers in ing became widespread and rapidly 2000. addition to TV programmes video influenced Japanese society. In the clips, message boards and interac- midst of discussion on the nature of tive contents. this influence as well as the merits Expansion of TV school and disadvantages of the medium, broadcast programmes there was increasing demand to 004 marks the 45th anniversary realise the educational potential of the 15 minutes per day were devoted to of the Japan Broadcasting Cor “new media”, especially for children. school broadcasts for classroom 2poration (NHK). From the The NHK considered carefully the viewing when television broadcasting beginning of the Corporation’s oper- role of TV as an educational tool, in- first started in Japan in 1953. By April ation, one of its most important ser- cluding a review of how radio was 1959, 3 months after the launch of vices has been provision of educa- involved in providing educational ser- the NHK-ETV channel, 35 school tional and cultural programming vices. A significant amount of time programmes were broadcast per (ETV). In doing so, it has earned a and thought were directed to devel- week, accounting for 2 and a quarter reputation as one of the world’s few oping plans to advance a form of tele- hours of daily programming. Science channels specialising in education. As vision that would help create a new Class was the first programme to offer NHK-ETV prepares itself for its most broadcasting culture. These efforts grade-specific programming for recent challenge – preparation for finally bore fruit with the launching pupils in grades 5 and 9. Junior High broadcasting to children in the digi- of NHK Educational TV (NHK-ETV) English and Elementary School So- tal age, it continues to follow its initial on January 10, 1959. In his inaugural cial Studies soon followed on the programming goal – “to help foster speech, the new President of NHK same model. Schools throughout the richer minds, enrich life and promote proclaimed that the main goals of country rapidly adopted this televised culture.”1 ETV would be to promote equal op- curriculum. This article reviews major changes in portunities in education; to help im- There was remarkable growth in both NHK-ETV over the past 45 years and prove the level of national education the diffusion and use of school-orient- discusses its future direction with an and the liberal arts; and to strive to ed television programmes in the first emphasis on services provided to promote cultural development, public five years of broadcasting. By 1964, children.2 welfare and world peace. more than 90 % of Japanese elemen- Initially, total broadcasting time was tary schools possessed TV sets and 4 hours and 20 minutes daily. The the utilisation rate reached 73 % of Initiation of broadcast morning period was devoted to pro- the schools. The average number of services grammes for schools, while evening television sets per school was still on- programming targeted juvenile and ly 2.2, indicating that either TV pro- The NHK launched its television adult audiences at home with a wide grammes were generally utilised only service – today’s General Television range of programmes, ranging from by a limited number of enthusiastic (GTV) – in February 1953. From its vocational, science, language and teachers or that several classes inception, NHK has tried to provide academic to art programmes. Later, watched at the same time. PROGRAMME 48 18/2005 E

In April 1963, NHK started regular and life education that transcended broadcasts of high school correspond- conventional school subjects (such as ence courses targeted to working science, social studies, language, youth, housewives and the elderly. math, music, moral education, etc.). Classes delivered through ETV be- These new types of educational pro- came an important means of learning grammes were a precursor of today’s for pupils who were able to study for Integrated Study Periods that, in and their high school diploma while also of themselves, are leading to the © NHK holding a job. development of various new school (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) Language courses for general audi- programmes and digital curricula [see Okome – Rice (integrated studies for 5th and ences were broadcast by NHK-ETV below]. 6th grades) from the beginning. Initial conversa- Widespread diffusion of VCRs in tion courses in English were followed schools throughout the 1980s trig- general audiences. This trend was ex- by courses in German and French. gered an increased use of school tended to school-oriented television The period from the latter half of the broadcasts, now in a recorded format, programmes and as a result they be- 1960s to the early 1970s saw the larg- and also the increased use of video came more realistic in style, friendlier est expansion and major enrichment software developed as educational in general atmosphere with a more of NHK-ETV. By 1967, ETV had ex- material and published by various child-oriented structure. Greater em- tended its broadcast hours from 6.00 private companies. phasis was placed on encouraging a.m. to 12.00 p. m. The foundations Since the latter half of the 1970s, children to engage in active self- for the present ETV programme gen- interest in lifelong learning, too, has learning by demonstrating how res were laid during this period. increased in Japanese society and learning can be fun. Adult presenters While some commercial educational NHK-ETV started to pay attention to sought to be viewers’ friends rather stations were active early in this pro- the changing interests of its viewers than teachers or specialists in sub- cess, by 1973 all had educational pro- in order to meet their changing needs. jects. Child presenters/reporters have grammes and devoted broadcast time Thus, in April 1982, NHK decided to been given important roles in provid- to general programming. reform the programming policy of its ing guidance in programme develop- ETV Channel. More emphasis on ment. These changes in contents and lifelong learning led to the introduc- the style of school broadcasts sought Introduction of new types of tion of new types of programmes: to encourage children’s self-learning school programmes and easily understood art programmes; at home and/or self-learning by use strengthening of lifelong portrayals of the lives of company of programme-related digital mate- learning workers; interviews with people from rials. the world of culture, theatre and other During the 1970s, the number of TV artistic endeavours; foreign documen- sets present in elementary schools tary features; and a large variety of New trends in ETV increased to roughly one television set hobby programmes, including A programming and per classroom. The sets themselves Special Course in Fishing, Introduc- enrichment of programmes changed from black-and-white to tion to Personal Computers, Best for children in the 1990s colour. By around mid-1970s, more Golf, etc. These programmes were than 95 % of elementary and 50 % of concentrated mainly in the evening The NHK broadcasts various kinds junior and senior high schools were hours, together with conventional of entertainment and informational tuning in to broadcasts of school pro- programmes in adult education such programmes for after school viewing grammes. Science, social studies and as NHK University Course pro- at home, in addition to a wide range moral education were the most pop- grammes. of educational programmes for chil- ular subjects that utilised television Various ideas were proposed that dren at school. Intended to have direct in school. sought to eliminate the stuffy image educational value, all these pro- In response to a controversy about a of NHK-ETV’s educational pro- grammes aim to assist children meet lack of diversity in the curricula, grammes. Changes in the contents the challenges of growing up. Until NHK began to explore the use of dif- and style of presentation rendered the the end of the 1980s, most of the ferent contents for school broadcasts programmes far more interesting than home-directed programmes were in the mid 1970s. Newly developed conventional educational pro- broadcast on GTV while school-ori- programmes included interdisciplina- grammes, for example, in history and ented programmes were broadcast on ry curricula , such as environmental science programmes directed at ETV. PROGRAMME 18/2005 E 49

Here it is important to note that the to improve the quality of TV pro- of areas useful for daily life such existence of two television channels grammes for children and to enrich as cooking, fashions, health, etc. within the nationwide public broad- programme variety. NHK responded Arts and performing arts focus on casting network has from its inception to this need by taking its role as a pub- classical music, opera, Kabuki and provided sufficient hours of pro- lic broadcaster even more seriously. Noh performances. gramming for different age groups of It did so by allocating more time-slots Language courses in various for- children, with preschool children es- already devoted to children’s pro- eign languages and Japanese focus tablished as a special target audience. gramming under a clear umbrella title on practical conversation and Commercial networks, too, have on its ETV Channel and expanded its learning about different cultures. played a significant role in Japan from services. Legal and welfare programmes the very beginning in terms of chil- In 1990 a time allocation system, or provide information useful to va- dren’s programming for home view- zone programming, was established rious minority and age groups, for ing. by the NHK-ETV Channel. This example the elderly, and include a A long history of TV programmes for enabled development of varied, dis- daily news bulletin in sign lan- preschool children as the special tar- tinctive programmes for different tar- guage. get audience, separate from children’s get audiences, for both children and Programmes for preschool chil- programming in a general sense, is a adults. Thus, following daily life pat- dren and their mothers use a vari- distinctive feature of Japanese TV, terns, morning broadcasts begin with ety of formats – animation, foreign and especially of NHK. The NHK programmes for older children and dramas and audience participation started two regular programmes in gradually move on to those directed with elementary school children in 1956 for viewing in nursery and kin- to children in lower age brackets, the studio. dergarten schools. With Mother was while the reverse occurs in the late News programmes include parti- initiated in October 1959 with the afternoon/early evening. cipation of experts who add com- intention that it would be viewed by Under this reform, most of the NHK’s mentaries on social and world af- preschool children and their mothers children’s programmes on GTV were fairs (n. b. most news programmes at home, and accordingly has been moved to the ETV Channel to make are broadcast on GTV Channel). viewed by three generations of chil- it easier for children to find their pro- dren and mothers. Later, seven regu- grammes in one place. Since then lar preschool programmes were of- ETV has become a channel for chil- Development of educational fered by NHK and a number of pre- dren, not just for study at school, but services for schools in the school TV programmes were broad- also for enjoyment at home with pro- digital era cast by commercial stations in the grammes that contain both entertain- 1970s following the introduction of ment and intellectual contents. Today, NHK-ETV presents a compre- Sesame Street. However, most of hensive schedule that consists of spe- commercial stations’ programmes for cialised programmes of different gen- preschool audiences ceased broad- ETV programming by res targeted at different age groups. casting by the beginning of the 1980s. major genres Audience feedback indicates that they In this regard, in comparison with the identify ETV as the channel that they situation up to the beginning of the School broadcasts directed to kin- choose for the specific purpose of 1970s, there was a decline in the dergarten, elementary, junior and satisfying their intellectual curiosity. diversity of programming for children senior high schools were devel- On the 40th anniversary of the NHK- as a whole in Japan throughout the oped according to curricular guide- ETV in 1999, the channel reaffirmed 1970s and 1980s. This is due mainly lines. to the rapid growth of animated Senior high school courses avail- cartoons and superhero/metamorpho- able to pupils studying through sis action dramas broadcast by com- correspondence courses for school mercial stations. Actually these two leaving diploma are also viewed in genres of children’s programmes senior high schools and by indivi- have been by far the most popular TV duals at home. programmes among elementary Cultural and liberal arts pro- school children in Japan for a long grammes deal with culture, litera- © NHK time. ture, history, science and society. (Japan Broadcasting Corp.)

Given this situation, it was deemed Hobbies and practical knowledge Antarctica Kids (best prize for the Web necessary at the outset of the 1990s programmes address a wide range Division in Japan Prize 2003 PROGRAMME 50 18/2005 E that education of the next generation clips, interactive sites, and message was to be its major goal for the com- boards. With the spread of broadband ing years. The need to renew the cur- networks, all these media can be rent school broadcast programmes integrated and delivered seamlessly was cited as one of its most important on the Internet. In April 2001, NHK tasks. released on the Internet the first digi- tal curricula – Okome (Rice), an in- tegrated approach for study in the 5th © NHK Overall status of the and 6th grades; and, Japanese History (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) development of NHK’s for study in 6th grade social studies. Okome – a digital curriculum example Digital Curriculum & 3 additional digital curricula were learning materials for school added the following year: Kawa education (River, integrated curriculum for 4th, their pupils. Second, pupils can also 5th and 6th grades); A World of follow their interests and progress Although the educational use of Wonders (science for 3rd grade), and ahead or they can spend more time television broadcasts has been in BIKKURIKA (Wonder Science for 4th reviewing what they do not quite un- decline in relation to the widespread grade). derstand. Third, there is no need to use first of VCRs and then computers, adjust school schedules to match TV still has an important role to play broadcast times nor is it necessary to in schools.3 The transition from the Contents of NHK Digital take into account differences in con- 1980s to the 1990s found an in- Curricula tents or pacing in the use of school creased use of computers in educa- textbooks as teachers can integrate tion. Accordingly, since the mid- The most important characteristic of the programme when appropriate. 1990s, attempts have been advanced the NHK Digital Curriculum is the to combine use of school broadcast availability of 4 media for the delivery Video clips programmes and the Internet as a new of content: TV programmes, video Each programme is supported by a ETV service. clips, interactive activities, and the series of 2- to 3-minute video clips Integration of new technologies into message board. All 4 can be accessed accompanied by written information. the classroom progressed rapidly on the same television screen by Each clip presents the information in under the auspices of the MEXT simply selecting an appropriate tag. a straightforward, general manner and (Ministry of Education, Culture, This design is standardised across all may be accessed at any time from Sports, Science and Technology) NHK Digital Curricula so that teach- other programmes and curricula. Use Millennium Project. The aims of this ers and pupils can use the same func- of short video clips seems to be quite project included connecting all public tions, even in different subjects or attractive to teachers, since they elementary and secondary schools to grades (examples can be accessed at sometimes find difficulty using the the Internet by 2001/02, connecting http://www.nhk.or.jp/school). In do- full 15-minute television programme all classrooms to broadband net- ing so, NHK has sought to build a during the rather limited number of works, and training all teachers to use hypermedia space that is an open- school hours allocated each subject. computers for teaching various sub- ended learning environment.4 Video clips are also used directly by jects to their pupils in their classroom pupils in their own learning pro- by 2005/06. The overall goal was to TV programmes grammes. organise an environment in which By selecting the “TV programme”, teachers and pupils in every grade in viewers can watch school pro- Interactive activities every class can use computers con- grammes that have been broadcast on In this mode, different kinds of inter- nected to the broadband. Further, the television on the Internet at any time. active activities have been prepared basic direction then was to encourage Written information including an to supplement the television pro- the use of a combination of different outline of each programme is avail- grammes. More than 200 educational media, not just television and radio able. In general, 20 programmes are quizzes and games are available for programmes. provided each year, each a quarter of children to use in order to review the With such new media environments an hour in duration. contents of TV programmes and to in schools in mind, NHK has been Among the advantages of this provi- advance their own learning in relation developing digital learning materials sion are that, first, teachers can view to NHK school TV programmes. to supplement the programmes and analyse the programmes before Teachers are expected to encourage broadcast, including use of video they introduce the programmes to children to pursue their own learning PROGRAMME 18/2005 E 51 by selecting from among the activities websites and reading materials related spite opportunities for specially according to their interests. For to each topic. Such services will likely designed training, many teachers do example, on the “Antarctica” website, prove to be very helpful to teachers have difficulty using computers and which received the best prize for the as new learning topics are introduced the Internet in their classes with con- Web Division in the Japan Prize 2003, under the recent education reform and fidence. there are interactive activities such as until textbooks are issued for new cur- Finding appropriate learning mate- Ask! Virtual Penguin Professor and ricula such as in media studies, local rials from the abundance of informa- Live Data. While at Challenge! Pen- area studies, topics related to aspects tion available on the Internet, too, is guin Rescue Game, children can learn of human life, the environment, etc. one of the obstacles to teacher use of about problems in the Antarctica by Communication between teachers computers in their classes. If the NHK rescuing penguins with other rescue and the NHK has become increasing- Digital Curriculum, which is based members online on the Internet. ly important. The “Message Board for directly on Japanese school education Teachers” enables teachers to ex- curricula, could successfully reach Message Boards change ideas about how to develop these teachers, they undoubtedly “Message Board” enables pupils to their teaching methods in the new could be assisted by information share information and exchange media-rich learning environment. The available online. Over the past several opinions. There are several different NHK site also contains the annual years the NHK has provided informa- kinds of “Message Boards”: Let’s talk catalogue of print and digital mate- tion about its ongoing development about the programme ! focuses on the rials available as well as a broadcast of digital learning materials through contents of each programme; Let’s schedule of school related pro- various different ways, including pro- talk in the meeting room! is for dis- grammes (n. b. programmes are viding demonstration lessons to cussion of specific issues; and Send broadcast three times a year for each teachers on use of the NHK Digital a report! is for presenting the results grade of elementary schools as well Curriculum, by establishing the of research by pupils including visu- as for junior and senior high schools conditions for broadband reception in al data, for further communication and kindergartens/nursery schools). various parts of Japan, and by also with other schools. As of 2004, there By registering for the NHK automatic producing additional TV programmes were 13 programmes with “Message bi-weekly mailing service, teachers for teachers that include examples of Board” capabilities; in science, social can also receive news regularly on schools who have had experience in studies, moral education and five particular TV/digital curricula, utilisation of such materials. As the Topic Studies including “Rice”, examples for their use in schools, government proceeds with its plan to “Antarctica”, and “ Only One Earth”. information about upcoming events complete provision of broadband In order to maintain children’s priva- related to “school and media”, etc. connection to schools throughout the cy and encourage meaningful, edu- country, more widespread demonstra- cation-oriented communication tion of the newest NHK digital among participants, only schools Discussion about further learning materials through use of registered by the teachers have pass- developments of the use of schools that have successful experi- words to access the Message Boards. media in schools ences will be of great assistance, just Also, a group of university members as was the case when utilisation of who have been involved in develop- Not withstanding these important television was introduced into the ing these new educational materials advances, a number of challenges school 45 to 50 years ago. have reviewed these “Message remain. First, while almost all schools Teachers today do not have common Boards” as a responsible body. are now connected to the Internet, not media experiences. Generally speak- all teachers and pupils can access ing, veteran teachers have rich such computers whenever they would experience in the integration of NHK assistance to teachers like to use it in classes. Provision of television in the classroom, but they the hardware necessary for full utili- are not very active users of the com- Besides the 4 media sites accessible sation of the Digital Curriculum, such puter in their teaching. On the other for each programme, a variety of as viewing visual images, has yet to hand, younger teachers who are very useful information is made available be completed in many schools. There interested in advancing use of the to teachers on NHK School Online are not enough teacher-designated computer have relatively less experi- including, for example, sample lesson sites that enable teachers to access ence in the use of televised pro- plans and worksheets developed by computers at school, therefore many grammes. This being the case, it will school teachers as well as supplemen- have to use their own home comput- be important to develop a variety of tary information including a list of ers for class preparations. And, de- innovative approaches and examples PROGRAMME 52 18/2005 E

of utilisation of digital curricula so evision played in Japanese school 4 Information about curent NHK school broadcasting that teachers will be able to under- education and concluded that the and digital learning materials is available at NHK School Online website: stand in demonstrable ways the many contribution of TV to education may http://www.nhk.or.jp/school/ possible ways in which a variety of be even greater as a result of the shift [partially in English]. For additional information available in English see learning materials, including televi- from “conventional viewing of tele- References. sion programmes, can be combined vision“ to “use of TV” through digita- for use in their classrooms. lisation. The Commission suggested Analysis of interviews conducted that there is a need to advance a plan recently by the NHK Broadcasting for dissemination of media environ- Culture Research Institute with teach- ment to schools that will provide REFERENCES ers who have not been especially in- teachers with various examples of the volved in the use of new media re- effective uses of digital TV in Kodaira, S. I. (2002): “Educational services for children in the digital age from the standpoint of a veals that initial orientation of teach- schools, exemplars of new lesson public service broadcaster”. NIER-UIE Internatio- ers should be provided that will en- models and means of coping with nal Seminar — Lifelong Learning in the Informa- tion Age: Transnational Study on Media Literacy in able them to attain a holistic under- copyright issues. The Commission the Advent of Learning Societies. NIER-National standing of the Digital Curriculum concluded that if all the educational Institute for Educational Policy Research of Japan. with follow-up guidance in use of the materials developed will be available (English) Kodaira, S . I. (2004) “Research on children and website since there is significantly on television, then it might be easier media by NHK: Its framework and some output more information on each website in for teachers to use than Internet ac- examples from recent studies” (presentation of comparison with a TV school pro- cess. paper in English for the Fourth World Summit on Media for Children and Adolescents, Rio de Janei- gramme. If teachers have the impres- ro April 2004) Revised by Peter Lemish sion that they need more preparation Kodaira, S. I. (1997) “Trends in research on edu- time to use the new materials, they cational broadcasting in Japan: Toward studies in a new era”, NHK Annual Bulletin of Broadcasting will not show further interest in using Culture Research, 42 (Japanese with English sum- the new materials, since teachers are NOTES mary). too busy for so many tasks besides 1 An educational TV channel is defined as one in Kodaira, S. I. (2000) “Influence of television on preparing for their class lessons. which educational programmes make up more children around the world: Towards further than 50 % of the programming, and cultural pro- discussion and studies”, NHK Annual Bulletin of The NHK continues development and grammes more than 30 %. With quasi-educational Broadcasting Culture Research, 45, (Japanese with testing of learning materials through TV channels, the percentages change to more than English summary). pilot studies in order to provide 20 % for educational programmes, and more than Kodaira, S. I. (2003) “Studies on children and TV 30 % for cultural programmes. in Japan: Analysing the last fifty years for further schools with the capabilities neces- 2 The following publications in English will be help- studies and discussion” NHK Annual Bulletin of sary for use of the NHK Digital Cur- ful to understand the overall situation of educa- Broadcasting Culture Research, 47, (Japanese with riculum by the time all classrooms in tional television and radio services along with a an English summary) brief history and some of the basic features of Kodaira, S. I. (2000) “Discussion on services for Japan are connected to broadband in Japan’s broadcasting systems: children in the digital age from the standpoint of a 2005/06, according to the Govern- NHK Radio and TV Culture Research Institute public service broadcaster” (presentation of paper (1977). 50 Years of Japanese Broadcasting. ment plan. According to this plan, the in English for the Public Service Broadcasting NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute Beyond 2000, Banff Canada, June 2000). Digital Curriculum will be able to be (2002). Broadcasting in Japan: Twentieth Century Journey from Radio to Multimedia. Adaptation accessed on TV at anytime with any from the Japanese version of The History of type of digital television by 2007 and Broadcasting in the Twentieth Century, published then such capabilities will be diffused in 2001. NHK (2003). 50 Years of NHK Television. throughout the country by 2011. 3 The NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Insti- In October 2003, the Investigative tute (previously The NHK Radio and TV Culture Research Institute) has conducted an NHK School Commission for Utilisation of Digi- Broadcast Utilisation Survey since 1950 with the tal Terrestrial TV Broadcasting was goal of obtaining basic information for use in the established within the Ministry of planning, production, and programming of NHK THE AUTHOR school broadcasts and educational services in Education, Culture, Sports, Science general. This survey is a nationwide questionnaire Sachiko Imaizumi Kodaira is a Se- and Technology. The Commission conducted on a regular basis by sampling. The most recent survey have covered a total of 4200 nior Researcher at the Broadcasting began to explore the potential of di- kindergartens, nursery schools, elementary, junior Culture Research Institute of the gital television for school education, high and senior high schools. The results of the NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corpo- assuming that the transition from 2000 Survey conducted at a time of transition to the digital age are available in English in: Ko- ration), a nationwide public broad- analogue to digital broadcasting daira, S. I. & Takahashi, Y. (2001).”New Devel- caster in Japan. Since 2002, she has would be completed as scheduled in opments in Media Use in Schools: From the NHK been working as a NHK’s Com- School Broadcast Utilisation Survey, now its 50th mentator for TV and radio pro- 2011. The Commission’s report in- Year”. NHK Broadcasting Culture & Research, cludes an evaluation of the roles tel- No.17 (Summer 2001). grammes.